GS400 2JZGTE Build in the Mitten State

I found a Toyota Aristo grille that was in pretty good shape on eBay, so I had to scoop it up:

Here it is installed on my chipped up and filthy hood, haha:

I also grabbed a set of Aristo door sills while I was at it. I actually bought two sets of these on accident, so one set is posted in the FS section if anyone is looking for them! Adds a nice little touch to the interior (or lack of interior currently):

The driver's side seatbelt was missing from the interior I purchased, so that arrived this week too:

I got a hold of a pair of A and C pillars for the interior swap, but I did not have the B pillars. The headliner was proving to be a major pain for the seller to ship, so I decided just to paint all of these items black with DupliColor interior and fabric paint. I have used this stuff in the past when converting to a black interior on some of my other cars and it works well enough to get the job done. The best option would have been to wrap all of this stuff in black fabric, but I don’t have the budget or patience for it at the moment. My car won’t have much of a “VIP” feel to it anyway, so this is sufficient in my eyes.

Here’s a shot of one of the dirty tan B pillar covers prior to being painted:

And here are the pillar covers after being painted:

After starting on spraying the headliner, I can honestly say I kind of wish I had wrapped it! It’s proving to be very time consuming and using a lot of paint. I think another coat tonight will take care of it though. Then I just need to spray the sunroof cover and I’ll be ready to start getting a lot of this back into the car’s interior.

For the actual plastic items that need to be painted, including the steering column cover and kick panels near the carpet, I turned to my good friend and interior expert Toby for something a bit nicer than the DupliColor stuff. He hooked me up with some SEM paint that should work nicely for those pieces:

Like I mentioned before, I wasn’t really feeling the wood grain trim on the door panels and center console. I took it to the body shop and had them spray it gloss black for me. I’m really happy with how it turned out- looks much better! Again, not really going for a VIP feel so this is perfect.

I got three of the door panels back in, but I’m waiting for the black window switches to arrive for the driver’s door before I can put that one back in.

I’m expecting the rest of the interior pieces I need to arrive next week, including a set of black leather seats. They aren’t in amazing condition, but I wanted to at least have something in the car so I have one less thing to worry about. I’d of course love to be bolting in a pair of buckets instead, but that will have to wait for another day.

As for the mechanical side, I brought the cherry picker up out of the basement and was able to get the engine off of the pallet. My engine stand is currently out at my cousin’s house, so I picked up another one to use in the mean time. The bell housing bolts aren’t long enough to put the engine on the stand, so I’ll grab some today after work and get the engine on there. That will free up garage space and make it easier to do some maintenance work before the engine goes in.

I also removed the flex plate and torque converter. Won't be needing those anymore!

I’m going to try to install the clutch pedal and master cylinder this weekend. That will allow me to really start getting the interior back into the car. My next step will be to decide how much work I am going to put into the engine and order the necessary parts to get that all sorted out, as well as the fuel pump and other stuff needed to convert the car to a return style fuel system.

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Hey SOLARAGUY...whatsup dude?! I remember you from toyotanation days. I really loved your Solara. I might purchase one to daily. Still waiting on the right 2GS. So I lurk in the GS forums since the ES330 forums dont have much action.

Really digging your build, well all your builds.

Congrats on the baby...I suppose we will see less and less of you when the baby comes?

Hey SOLARAGUY...whatsup dude?! I remember you from toyotanation days. I really loved your Solara. I might purchase one to daily. Still waiting on the right 2GS. So I lurk in the GS forums since the ES330 forums dont have much action.

Really digging your build, well all your builds.

Congrats on the baby...I suppose we will see less and less of you when the baby comes?

Hey thanks man! I remember you as well. Solaras are great cars- I still miss mine sometimes! Wouldn't mind having one for a daily at all. And yeah, this is my first time posting in over two weeks since we had her haha- but getting back into the swing of things now!

Quote:

Originally Posted by perrychad1

Also doing a 5spd swap. Take some good pics for me

I'll do my best for you! The clutch pedal is proving to be the most annoying part, but it's definitely doable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by msarahalex

Nice build, did so much in a short time

Thanks! I was hoping to get as many of the parts I needed here before the baby arrived, but she came early! lol

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As for an update, my wife and I had our second daughter back on March 30th just under three weeks early. It was a bit of a surprise, but everyone is healthy and doing well so I can't complain! I took two weeks off of work and was able to work on the car during nap time and a bit during the evenings, so that was really nice.

Let's see- shortly after my last update, I was able to get the engine on the stand. It's nice to be able to move it around in the garage now and keep it out of the way:

A few maintenance items arrive for the engine including OEM Toyota timing belt tensioner, idler, water pump (not pictured), cam seals, crank seal, and an HKS timing belt. Another order of maintenance items for the engine and transmission will be here Wednesday, which should allow me to get the drivetrain assembled and ready to drop into the car. My goal is to have it sitting nicely in the bay sometime in early May.

I spent a lot of time trying to install the clutch pedal and clutch master assemblies and I am happy to say I'm getting pretty close. I am using the JZA80 Supra components and had to cut two brackets off of the clutch pedal bracket to get it to come close to fitting. It's a tight fit with the brake pedal, but I think after I build my steel brace running to one of the studs from the old foot-style emergency brake pedal it should all fit OK. If not, I'll have to look into cutting and welding the clutch pedal and/or brake pedal arms.

I was hoping to utilize the JZA80 brake pedal assembly, but it doesn't quite work like I had hoped. Here is is next to the GS brake pedal assembly that I will end up cutting down to fit better:

Space is VERY limited down here which does not make it easy. The clutch pedal will move about an inch to the left as soon as the new bracket is fitted, which I am hoping will be enough to clear the brake pedal and not feel too awkward. But we'll see how it goes...

I've made good progress on the interior and I think I finally have all of the pieces I need to install it. I was able to put the mirror, headliner and overhead lights, A/B/C pillar covers, rear speaker deck, and seatbelts back into the car. I just need to finish up the clutch pedal install and order my steering wheel/hub and that should allow me to get the full interior reinstalled. Looking forward to having it all together since it was torn apart when I bought the car and I haven't even been able to sit in there.

It looks pretty bad here due to the flash, but I think I am going to go back and paint some of the remaining grey items black. They look a bit out of place right now with the darker pillars and headliner. I'm hesitant to even post this at this stage, but I am confident I'll be able to pull it all together:

The pigtail was cut on the mirror I got, so I had to do a little soldering work before it could go in:

I found a cheap set of JDM black wood trim for the doors and decided to snag it. I think I like the painted trim I had done better, but the jury is still out on which I want to use:

I picked up my front and rear seats as well as a bunch of other interior parts I still needed from the Greyhound station a couple days after my daughter was born. The seats aren't in the best condition, but they'll definitely work for now until I can get something cooler in there down the road.

Found a good deal on an HKS fuel cut defencer and decided to snag that. I've heard these are great to have for this swap, but I honestly haven't even looked into how it works too much just yet.

So that's about where everything sits right now. Waiting on those parts to come in from Drift Motion this week and I should have just about all that I need to freshen the engine and transmission up and bolt them together. Hoping I might have the time over the weekend to at least get time timing belt job done and go from there. As usual though, I keep losing focus and jumping between tasks. I'm anxious to get the pedals done and the interior together as well, so we'll see which project I tackle first.

Warm weather is making me excited for more progress! (Despite the fact that snow is on the way tonight...)

[QUOTE=
Found a good deal on an HKS fuel cut defencer and decided to snag that. I've heard these are great to have for this swap, but I honestly haven't even looked into how it works too much just yet.

I fyou have a DIY for the defencer, let me know. I just picked one up as well.

I feel like I haven't accomplished much since last time, but that's because I've spent most of my free time working on the clutch pedal assembly. I've been adding some lateral bracing to the assembly based on some advice from a friend to make sure everything is strong and in the right place. I also took the time to cut down the brake pedal assembly for the manual transmission setup. I'm hoping to wrap that up this week and grab some pictures.

Another order of parts from Drift Motion arrived last week including the following:

Here's all of the engine and timing service items that I need to install including the OEM water pump- don't think I ever posted when that arrived:

Annnd the even larger pile with everything engine and drivetrain related. I keep thinking I've got everything and am ready to assembly the engine and trans, but I keep deciding to replace/modify other items along the way. Aside from a couple more transmission related upgrades I might buy, I think I've got it pretty under control. Famous last words, haha.

I cleaned and installed the rear seats. Still need a couple missing bolts to fully secure them and the seat belts, but I have to get in there to install the fuel pump and return line at some point anyway.

I have a couple cool interior pieces on the way that won't be here for a few weeks, so I'm feeling just about done with sourcing interior stuff for the time being. Need to focus on getting the engine and transmission maintenance done and everything assembled so that I can drop it in and measure for the shifter extension and driveshaft. Still hoping to have that done by the first weekend in May.

I also sold my Evo last weekend and picked up this 96 Camry as a daily beater while the GS is under the knife, so trying to get that thing a bit more roadworthy has taken up a fair bit of my project car time. It's got bad rear end links and a pretty large oil leak right now, so I'm working to get that sorted before I spend more time on the Lexus. Hopefully it'll be in good shape after a couple more hours of work. For a car that cost half as much as most sets of wheels I own, I really can't complain lol.

definitely take pictures of the clutch pedal for me please. i am seriously consider doing a manual swap on my gs as well. what clutch pedal/bracket did you end up going with and the modification needed to get it to fit